The present invention relates to a work vehicle such as a bulldozer.
A bulldozer is known which is provided with a cab where a front side has a trapezoidal shape in a top view of the vehicle such that an operator can have sufficient visibility in the vicinity of both edge sides of the front of a working implement (blade) in order to dig and level ground with good accuracy using the bulldozer (refer to Japanese Patent No. 3180925 and Japanese Design Registration No. 1278235).
In recent years, there has been demand for cleaning of exhaust in work vehicles such as bulldozers from the viewpoint of the natural environmental protection. As a result, an exhaust treatment apparatus which is more advanced than a muffler in the related art is mounted in the work vehicle. For example, as the exhaust treatment apparatus, there is a diesel particulate filter (DPF) apparatus, a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) apparatus, or the like. The DPF apparatus reduces particulate matter in the exhaust. The SCR apparatus reduces nitrogen oxide (NOx) in the exhaust. The exhaust treatment apparatuses are heavier and have greater capacity than conventional apparatuses.
The capacity of an engine compartment is increased by mounting such exhaust treatment apparatuses. For this reason, it is not preferable to increase the width of the engine compartment, because an operator can hardly visually observe the vicinity of both edge sections of the front of a working implement. Alternatively, extension in the front and back length of the engine compartment causes the blade to be arranged away from (the center of gravity of) the vehicle. In this case, when the bulldozer runs across an uneven ground surface, the blade is considerably shaken vertically. Accordingly, the operation by the operator becomes difficult. Thus, extension in the front and back length of the engine compartment is not preferable. Therefore, increasing the height of the engine compartment is one effective means for solving the problem.